How Tunisia’s Ben Ali escaped to Saudi Arabia

On Jan. 14, 2011, the most critical moments in Tunisia’s modern History and their subsequent facts were weaved behind the scenes and in the corridors of the Tunisian authority, from bottom to top positions. This historic date was the spark that drew the red lines on the region’s map, a region that entered a new chapter entitled: The Revolution. The Jan.14, 2011, as witnessed by the Tunisian people, he reintroduced questions about the reasons that pushed the former president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave his palace and then his country like a runaway. The story takes place in Tunis, the capital, and in many other Tunisian cities but its events mainly occur in the authority’s decision making headquarters: the Presidential Palace in Carthage, the former president’s residence in Sidi Bou Said, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense, al-Habib Bourkiba avenue in the Capital, the Tunis-Carthage International Airport and the military barracks of Ouainia where is located the military airbase and the governmental palace in El Kasba. It all started at 8 o’clock in the morning when the former president Ben Ali arrived to his office in the presidential Palace of Carthage concurrently with the Ministers of Interior and Defense and the Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghannoushi. At the same time, a few number of demonstrators were gathering in Habib Bourkiba avenue in front of the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior, headed by the human rights activist and lawyer, Radiya Al-Nassrawi who was nominated for the Nobel peace prize and who was demanding at the time the release of her husband, the leader of the communist workers party incarcerated in the building of the Interior ministry. Starting from 11 o’clock in the morning, the situation worsened. The former president seemed to receive inconsistent reports and information that could be rather considered as a threat. At 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the events came to their climax: the protestors counted about 70 thousand person and a security breakdown was felt in some of the neighboring cities where demonstrators set fire to Police and National Guard stations. The situation was further aggravated with the escalation of disobedience and rebellion in the big prisons of the capital and other Tunisian cities. These incidents strained the Tunisian security forces and army after a month of ongoing efforts to contain the protests. Under these circumstances, the former president decided to send his wife, his son Mohammed and his Daughter Halima to Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saoodi Arabia to perform Umrah, the pilgrimage to Mecca. And indeed, the presidential Chief of Protocol urgently started preparing for the trip since the president was not intending to leave the country at the time. The president’s wife had received a notice from her husband asking her to pack her bags and leave for Jeddah. Concurrently, the security services received conflicting information about a potential helicopter attack on the presidential palace, in a bid to kill the President and other information on gunboats intending to attack the Palace from the sea. In the midst of these events during which the presidential palace was drowning in panic and terror, the Tunis-Carthage International Airport, and precisely, the VIP lounge, used by the most imminent personalities, witnessed a watershed in the story’s events. In fact, Colonel Samir al-Tarhouni of Tunisia's anti-terrorism Brigade, and his team broke into the airport and prevented the Trabelsi Family, Ben Ali’s in laws, from leaving the country. Al-Tarhouni took this initiative without the permission of his officials in the Ministry of the Interior, so his actions were considered as a rebellion specially that the vanguards of the National Guard abandoned their position in the palace and joined the other forces at the airport to participate in the operation that preoccupied the security leadership and sapped its efforts. Meanwhile, the president’s wife arrived to the palace to bid farewell to her husband with her son Mohammed, however, in the midst of the panic and terror in the palace and as soon as he heard of the rebellion in the airport, the former president suddenly insisted on accompanying them to the military barrack in order to secure their departure. Afterward, the presidential convoy, which counted nine cars, one of which was driven by Ben Ali’s wife Leila and carrying the president and his son, kicked off and arrived to the military barracks in Ouainia. The president stepped out of the car, parked in front of the presidential plane that was refueling in the warehouse. It was at that precise moment that the former president decided to travel to Jeddah with the intention of accompanying his family and then coming back home. Hence, the presidential plane took off escorted by armored cars on the runway. In the meantime, the news of the president’s departure spread among the security services, especially the presidential guard. Terror and panic took over the presidential palace in Carthage, so Colonel Sami Sik Salem, in charge of protecting the palace, called the prime Minister, Mohammed al-Ghannoushi, and pledged him to come to the presidential palace to fill the power void in the country after the president had left. Accordingly, the prime Minister as well as the speakers of the parliament and their advisors arrived to the palace under intensified security measures. Subsequently, a statement was recorded whereby the prime Minister assumes power as an interim president in line with chapter 56 of the Tunisian constitution. Throughout that night and during the flight to Jeddah, a series of calls were made between the former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the Prime Minister Mohammed al-Al-Ghannouchi, the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces, General Rachid Ammar. Ultimately, in an overnight meeting held in the headquarters of the ministry of Interior, it was decided to ban the president from returning to Tunisia. Thus, the presidential plane pilot was ordered to return home without the president on board. Among the protagonists who participated in this historical day: • Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia since 1987 • Leila Bi Ali, the president’s wife who was targeted and her family by the protests because of serious financial corruption widely acknowledged inside and outside Tunisia. Her family’s residences were subject to fire and looting and her brother, Belhassen Trabelsi fled by sea on the same day to Malta. • General Ali Asseriaty, Presidential Security Chief. He played a pivotal role in the events of the story. • Rida Karira, the Tunisian Defense Minister who played a major role in the events and adopted mysterious stances in several situations. • General Rachid Ammar, the Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces who was widely popular in Tunisia. • Mohammed al-Al-Ghannouchi, prime Minister. He assumed the role of interim president for a couple of hours and then handed over power to the speaker of the parliament of the representatives in line with chapter 57 of the constitution. • Lieutenant Samir al-Tarhouni, Colonel of Tunisia's anti-terrorism Brigade who broke into the airport, without the permission of his officials, in a bid to detain the president’s family and wife although the president was in the Carthage palace at the time. • Colonel Sami Sik Salem, Commander of the Presidential Security Forces who took the historical decision of calling upon the Prime Minister to take office. • Mohsen Rahim, the Presidential Chief of Protocol who organized and prepared Ben Ali’s trip to Jeddah. • Ghazwa and Sirine Ben Ali, daughters of the former president, who were with him on the 14th of January and the day before. There are also minor characters who participated in the events, such as: • The presidential plane pilot • The president’s valet • Female flight attendants • The Tunis-Carthage international airport Commander. Sami Sik Salem Commander of the President and official personalities Security Service. In Charge of guarding the presidential palace since 1994. On Monday the January 10 2011, Colonel Sami Sik Salem received instructions directly from the Presidential Security Chief, General Ali Asseriaty to apply extraordinary security precautions by guarding the Carthage presidential palace and all presidential headquarters. Salem implemented these measures till Thursday on January 13, when he attended a meeting in his office, under the supervision of the Presidential Security Chief. The meeting focused on maximal precaution measures and on implementing the 12/12 hour system according to which every individual works 12 consecutive hours and rests for 12 hours. During that meeting, Ali Asseriaty received a phone call from the former president and told him that the country was witnessing civil disobedience and that they installed additional checkpoints, closed all entries to the Carthage presidential palace and doubled the number of guards in the other presidential headquarters. Furthermore, they provided officers in civilian clothing with pistols and on the 14th of January 2011, the agents were provided with Beretta weapons equipped with 20 rounds magazines. The officers were ordered to wear their combat uniforms and some escort units were sent to the house of the former president’s wife to help the family evacuate after the security service had received threats and after panic took over them. On January 14 2011, all necessary precautions were taken; however, the security service received information on their radios about protestors flowing from Al Karm Street to the presidential palace where they were planning to camp out. Later that day, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Colonel Sik Salem was checking on his units and on his way back, he was intercepted by a black Audi running at an extraordinary speed, driven by the Presidential Security Chief, General Ali Asseriaty and carrying the Presidential Chief of Protocol, Mohsen Rahim. It was at that moment that Sami Sik Salem heard on his radio about the president’s departure from the presidential palace. In a second transmission, Salem learned the president’s convoy missed the turn to the presidential residence in Sidi Bou Said. So Sik Salem headed straight to the operations room where he got informed that the president’s convoy was heading to the presidential airport where the presidential plane was waiting for Ben Ali’s family. It was in the same operations room that Sik Salem received information on his radio indicating that “7 thousands resident heading from Al Maras and 5 thousands resident from Al-Karma were willing to attack the presidential palace”. He also received information on a potential attack on the palace from the sea and another piece of information about a helicopter planning to attack the palace from the air. In light of this information, Sik Salem phoned the director of the president’s escorts, Colonel Elias Zallak to inquire about these events. Zallak told Salem that he was unaware of these happenings and that he received a call from Ali Asseriaty asking him to join him at the airport. Sik Salem, then called Ali Asseriaty from his mobile phone but the latter didn’t answer so Salem’s fear and confusion aggravated. Salem then called his direct chief, Colonel Adnan Hattab and asked him to clarify the situation especially that he was the highest ranking officer responsible for the president’s security present at that moment in the palace. However, Hattab’s response was confusing and more fearful because he literally told Sami Sik Salem that he was not at the presidential palace and asked him to search for a place to hide. Adnan Hattab words exacerbated the fears of Salem who was directly responsible for dozens of officers and agents entitled of guarding the palace and who seemed stressed and feared the unknown since their lives were under threat according to the news they received about a potential attack on the presidential palace they were guarding. Tension was the master of the situation, some officers started to leave their positions and panic took over the Carthage palace where everybody felt their lives threatened. At that moment, Sami Sik Salem returned from the operations room and ordered to call General Rachid Ammar, Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces, who was in charge of coordinating the operations in the ministry of the interior. While the operator was striving to contact General Rachid Ammar, Salem called from his mobile phone Captain Bashir Shahida, from the president’s security service, who was in charge of protecting the prime minister in Al Kasba. Salem asked the Captain to pass the phone to the prime minister and while Shahida was heading to the prime minister’s office, Salem received a phone call from the operator telling him that he managed to contact the operations room in the ministry of national defense. However, on the other side of the line, was the voice of General Ahmad Shabir who replaced General Rachid Ammar in coordinating the operations in the ministry of defense after General Ammar had been transferred to the ministry of the interior to manage the operations there. Sik Salem told General Shabir he wanted to speak personally to general Ammar so Shabir told him that he could call him at the ministry of the interior. At that precise moment, Salem Sik received a phone call from Captain Bashir Shahida who reached the Prime Minister’s, Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi, office and secured the connection between the two sides. Thus, Sami Sik Salem informed the Prime Minister that the president fled the country with his family and told him: “You are now entrusted with the leadership of Tunisia, don’t let us face the unknown”. One could have sensed fear and concern in his words. However, the Prime Minister told Sik Salem that he was not entitled to deal with this situation and that he should convoke the house speaker, the head of senate and the president of the constitutional council. So Sami Sik Salem told him that he would send an armored car to bring him from his office in Al Kasba to the Carthage presidential palace and that he will make sure to convene the personalities mentioned by Mr. Al-Ghannouchi. Therefore, Salem sent the cars and some officers to the above mentioned personalities houses and waited their arrival. In the face of the chaos and panic that haunted the presidential palace and the officers, Sami Sik Salem went out to the palace’s main square, ordered to gather the agents and officers to uplift their spirits telling them “we are here to guard the president of the state and not Ben Ali. I want you to be men and heroes and every one of you needs to keep his position. No bullet shall be shot without my direct permission for any reason whatsoever”. Meanwhile, the house speaker, Mr. Fouad Mebazaa and the head of Senate, Mr. Abdullah Kallel arrived to the palace followed by Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi. They all settled in the operations room of the presidential security service in a bid to record the statement of the house speaker Fouad Mebazaa who sat in front of the Tunisian TV camera but soon got up from his chair and apologized from doing this mission out of sickness and proposed that the head of senate does it on his behalf. But Sami Sik Salem stood up and shouted: “This could not be the man we need, the country is bound to erupt after his appearance”. Then, the Prime Minister, Mr. Al-Ghannouchi, interfered quoting the constitution and said: “we could rely on chapter 56 of the constitution”. They then entered a room where they drafted the Prime Minister’s statement which he delivered in front of the TV camera. Al-Ghannouchi then asked the police governor, Youssef Sassi, to deliver the tape to the Tunisian television channel. The channel broadcasted the video after coordinating with Idriss Ben Youssef, the responsible for coordination between the presidency and the Tunisian television. Afterwards, Sami Sik Salem received an inquiry call from Adnan Hattab and asked him to join him immediately at the presidential palace without delving into details on the phone. And the operator managed to reach General Rachid Ammar at the ministry of the interior so Sami Sik Salem asked him confusingly to show up at the Carthage presidential palace. But General Ammar told him that he only takes orders from the defense minister. When Colonel Adnan Hattab finally arrived to the palace, Sami Sik Salem related to him all the details and asked him to supervise the situation since he was Sik Salem’s direct chief. And under intense stress, Sami Sik Salem told his Colonel that he could no longer continue his duties and headed to his office. Sami Masakini - Facts In the morning of the 14th of January, General Ali Asseriaty, the Presidential Security Chief who was often by the side of the former president, entered his office then went out in a hurry. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Asseriaty came again to his office and asked the police officer, Amjad Dabari, about some passports. Few minutes later the police officer handed him two passports, one for Mohsen Rahim, the Presidential Chief of Protocol and one for Ali Asseriaty who left the office with a leather suitcase in his hand. In the evening, and in light of the disorder and panic in the palace, he went to the palace’s main square and watched Sami Sik Salem speaking to the agents and officers and telling them in a loud voice: “I called the general director, he did not answer. I called his deputy, Mr. Adnan and he didn’t answer either. My dear fellows, Ben Ali escaped the country and we are men who are here to protect the president of the state and not Ben Ali himself. Ben Ali escaped, but we are men, and we will always stay men. I hereby order you not to shoot any bullet for whatever reason without my permission.” The hundred agents and officers stood still, amazed by Salem’s speech that tried to comfort and reassure them. However, they soon disobeyed his orders. Sami Masakini was ordered to accompany the driver sent to the house of Fouad Mebazaa, the house speaker, which was near the presidential palace. On the way to the Carthage palace, Mebazaa did not utter a word. Masakini then went to bring Abdullah Kallel, the head of senate, from his house, near the palace. He too did not utter one word. When the two men arrived to the operations room, they decided to move to the former president’s office to record the statement. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Al-Ghannouchi arrived in an armored car escorted by presidential security forces. So the three politicians discussed the solution that needed to be adopted after the house speaker, Fouad Mebazaa, had refused to take over power under the pretext of sickness and his incapacity of fulfilling this task. And therefore, in an office next to the former president’s bureau, Prime Minister Al Al-Ghannouchi took out of his pocket a scratch paper where he had hastily written some words and expressed his will to take over power as an interim president according to chapter 56 of the Tunisian constitution. Facts – Imad al-Habazi – head of operations in the presidential security service. The security service received information on a potential helicopter attack on the presidential palace, so the presidential security units were ordered to target any military helicopter that would try to land inside the palace. Meanwhile, President Ben Ali and the presidential security chief were in the president’s office. Afterwards, the operations room was informed of the presence of gunboats heading toward the palace. The agents in the operations room were shocked and they soon informed Ali Asseriaty, the presidential security chief who was two feet away from the former president’s office and answered “I copy that”. Asseriaty was precipitated and concerned and the operations room was receiving recurrent calls from the presidential car driver asking about the state of the route linking the presidential palace to the presidential residence in Sidi al-Drif. The operations room told him the road was clear and passable. At that moment, the operations room received the announcement of the president’s wife, Leila Ben Ali, arrival to the palace accompanied by her son Mohammed. 10 minutes later, Ali Asseriaty called the operations room and told them that they will leave the palace and head to the national army barracks at Ouainia. He insisted on the secrecy of this information. All the agents in the operations room were confused and surprised by these orders; they ignored what was really happening. At about 4:15 in the afternoon, the presidential convoy scurried from the Carthage palace and Colonel Sami Sik Salem arrived to the operations room and asked about the president and the cadres, so the operations room chief replied: “I don’t know”. Then Sik Salem shouted: “the president ran away, he fled the country”. So the operations chief asked him if he had any information on the matter and Salem told him that he called Asseriaty’s deputy, Adnan, who advised him to find a place to hide. After hearing this answer, Salem erupted in anger and uttered in strict words and in front of everybody: “I will act on my own and call the Prime Minister”. So Sik Salem, the highest ranking security agent present in the palace, called Officer Bashir Shahida who was in charge of the prime minister’s security and asked him to put the Prime Minister on the line. And therefore, Sik Salem told his interlocutor: “I am Colonel Sami Sik Salem, from the president’s security service. Mr. Prime Minister, President Ben Ali fled the country and you are the only man capable of saving the country. Tunisia is held in trust for you. Therefore you need to come to the palace”. Sik Salem words were emotional and he told the Prime Minister that he would send him an escorted car to bring him to the Carthage palace. Afterwards, Sik Salem called Abdullah Kallel, Fouad Mebazaa and Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi. And the convoy waited in front of Fathi Abdul Nazer’s house and tried to call him but he was out of reach. Then, Sik Salem Called Colonel Adnan Hattab to ask him why hadn’t he answered his calls, and after the ministers reached the palace, Adnan Hattab arrived. Sami Sik Salem Preach to the security agents After the mentioned ministers arrived to the palace, the operations room radioed all the units in the presidential palace and residence, reminding them of their duties and comforting them to uplift their spirits. The instructions were clear: “all units should keep their positions and respect the instructions of their leaders”. Then Sik Salem gathered the agents and officers in the palace’s square and preached to them saying: “we are doing a serious and responsible work here. Our task is to guard the Carthage presidential palace, we work according to rules and orders and we are not at the service of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali himself, every member should keep his position and respect discipline and orders” When Mr. Fouad al-Mebazaa arrived to the palace, he was escorted to the presidential security service’s office before Mr. Mohammed Al-Al-Ghannouchi’s arrival. Everybody was moved to the presidential cabinet where is located the president’s office. Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel Elias Zallak called the operations room and informed them that he was coming to the palace with Mohsen Rahim, the presidential chief of protocol and reassured them that he was fine. When asked about the president and his wife, Zallak did not give any detail insisting that he was on his way to the palace. Afterwards, Ali Asseriaty, the presidential security chief contacted the operations room and inquired about the situation. When he knew that the prime minister and the house speaker were in the palace he replied “ok, fine” and hang up. Facts in the operations room At 2:15 in the afternoon, the operations room chief called the responsible for the four presidential ambulances to see if the cars were ready in case of emergency. And at 3:57, the operations room chief called the taskforce chief at the presidential aircraft headquarter who informed him that two military helicopters have landed in the airbase at Ouainia carrying each 10 members of the Tunisian army vanguards. He had also informed the Presidential security chief of that situation. On the other hand, Lieutenant Mounsef Chabi, in charge of guarding the presidential aircrafts, notified the operations room that the border police had prohibited the presidential plane crew from entering the airport through the north gate. So Chabi called Ali Asseriaty who asked him to tell the crew to enter from the VIP lounge. At 4:46 in the afternoon, the palace’s surveillance camera was redirected to the sea after the security service had received information on gunboats heading to the presidential palace. Colonel Adnan Hattab – Deputy of the presidential security chief. Adnan Hattab was in his office, listening to his radio and following the situation in front of the ministry of the interior. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, he was informed of the former president’s departure with his family toward the presidential VIP lounge in the airport. Moreover, he received a direct call from Ali Asseriaty telling him that the presidential family was willing to travel to Jeddah in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. Hattab also knew that Ali Asseriaty and Mohsen Rahim have taken their passports with them and at about 5 o’clock, Ali Asseriaty informed him that the National vanguards and Tunisia’s anti-terrorism brigade interrupted the presidential flight. So Adnan called Lieutenant Colonel, Samir al-Tarhouni, who related to him the skirmish. Then Adnan Called LT. Colonel Arabi Akhal, chief of the national guards unit who passed the phone to Samir al-Tahrouni. Al-Tahrouni literally told Adnan: “if you want to know the truth, you should call General Rachid Ammar”. So Adnan Hattab called from the Palace’s phone distributor, General Rachid Ammar and said: “My general, I pay you my respect. I would like you to tell me what to do under these circumstances”. So general Ammar replied: “My son, take care of the men and the weapons you are entrusted with. From this moment on, you are in charge of your unit, so be careful”. Facts At 4 o’clock in the afternoon and in one of the presidential security department corridors, Adnan Hattab met with the presidential security chief who told him that the president would head with his family to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. Hattab issued instructions to the presidential security navy taskforce to secure all the points in the palace overlooking the sea. He also received many calls and information from the presidential security cadres concerning protests in the popular streets near the presidential palace. On the 14th of January, as soon as Hattab knew about the president’s departure, he headed at 5 o’clock to the former president’s sister’s house in el Menzah IX. Once inside the house, he received a call from Lieutenant Elias Zallak, in charge of the presidential escorts, asking him if he could send two cars, including one armored car, to Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi, upon the request of Colonel Sami Sik Salem. Then, Hattab called Colonel Salem who asked him to immediately come to the presidential palace without giving him further details. Adnan Hattab assures that he heard on his radio at 4 o’clock information about a military aircraft heading toward the presidential palace and that Ali Asseriaty had given orders to shoot the plane but soon retracted his orders. Captain Bashir Shahida – chief of the Prime Minister security Captain Shahida was in the prime ministry headquarter on the 14th of January. Around 5 o’clock, when Prime Minister Al-Ghannouchi was prepared to leave to his house, the security situation was tensed in all the streets and routes normally taken by the prime minister’s convoy. After receiving information on a huge demonstration counting around 4 thousands protesters in Bab Saadoun crossroad, the prime minister decided to stay in his office until the presidential security taskforce arrived and drove him to the Carthage palace at about 5:30. Facts At around 5:47, Captain Bashir Shahida received a call from Colonel Sami Sik Salem asking him to pass the phone to Prime Minister Al-Ghannouchi to talk to him in some serious business. So Shahida passed the mobile phone to the Prime minister who was alone in his office, without discerning the content of the call between Colonel Sik Salem and the Prime Minister. Facts- tasks distribution in the presidential security department Since the 12th of January, the five security taskforces were gathered and divided into two groups of 88 agents each. The first group was entitled to work from 7 am till 7 pm, and the second group, from 7 pm till 7 am. A reserve taskforce was held on guard in the Kamrat barracks. As for weapons, the presidential security agents had been working without arms for 4 years whereas only the troupes’ leaders, chiefs and commanders were allowed to carry weapons. So one day before the 14th of January, all agents and officers were provided with different kinds of weapons according to the task of each. Facts At 4:25 in the afternoon, the presidential convoy passed by Al Mouallaka crossroad, near the palace, in a suspicious and unusual way. The convoy was heading to Sidi Bou Said. Lieutenant Youssef Ben Hamadi from the presidential security service was entrusted with carrying the tape of the prime minister’s statement to the Tunisian television where he watched the video running live. Facts At around 4:30, Fawzi Darwish, Chief of the Guidance taskforce in the presidential security service, called the presidential security chief Ali Asseriaty and told him that a women from Marth region, was asking to meet president Ben Ali to inform him that the situation was dangerous and that a conspiracy was being conceived against him. Facts After Ben Ali Left the presidential palace, chaos took over the place. Colonel Elias Zallak – in charge of official and presidential escorts On the 23rd of December 2010, Colonel Zallak was assigned the task of escorting President Ben Ali and his wife to Dubai. It was a family trip with the president’s daughter Halima and her fiancé Mahdi Benkayed where the president and his family stayed at the Atlantis the Palm hotel and visited many touristic sited including the global village. Ali Asseriaty was with the family on their trip that ended on the 28th of December 2010. On the 12th of January, Zallak received instructions to secure the president’s family residences. On the 13th of January, the president was present in the presidential palace the whole day, unlike the usual when he only attended morning sessions. Zallak was instructed to prepare the “Aalaysa” yacht and three armored cars in the backyard of the presidential residence in Sidi Al-Drif in case of an emergency evacuation caused by protesters’ attack on the presidential palace. On the 14th of January, information were flowing since early morning on a potential sit-in organized by protesters near the presidential palace and about protesters gathered in Habib Bourakiba Avenue and heading to the Carthage palace. At around 11:30, colonel Zallak was instructed to bring members from the Trabelsi family from their homes to the presidential residence in Sidi Al-Drif. He also received a call from the presidential airplane taskforce chief, informing him that he was instructed to prepare the presidential airplane to leave the country. Meanwhile, Ali Asseriaty called him, asking him to show at his office where he found Colonel Adnan Hattab. Adnan said that it was about time to inform the President that the people are rejecting him and that his resignation was a must in order to safeguard the country’s security and stability. Furthermore, Adnan insisted that officers were not ready to shoot the demonstrators down and shed blood. At that moment, Zallak told Asseriaty that the presidential airplane was ready, so Asseriaty replied: “I am aware of that, departure is scheduled for 5 o’clock in the afternoon”, then the three men left Asseriaty’s office who headed directly to Ben Ali’s office. Elias Zallak left the presidential palace to check the route where he found the task forces on guard and asked them not to use their weapons against the civilians but to only recourse to sticks and tear gas when needed. During his tour, he was informed that a group of citizens coming from Al Marsa were planning to attack the presidential residence in Sidi Al-Drif. When Zallak arrived to Imtiaz crossroad, he received a call from Ali Asseriaty asking him where he was and informing him that they were about to leave. So Zallak advised him that a group of citizens on the La Flase crossroad were planning an attack against the palace. So Asseriaty asked him to stay in his position, then called him again and said: “Treason! Call Samir al-Tarhouni”. So Zallak called Samir al-Tarhouni to inquire about the situation but the latter insulted him and told him: “if you were a man, you would come to the airport immediately”. Zallak advised Asseriaty who asked him to go to the airport with two special escorts’ cars. Afterwards, Zallak called Colonel Adnan Hattab and informed him about the situation so Hattab asked him to abide by the instructions. On his way to the airport to meet Asseriaty, Zallak received a phone call from Sami Sik Salem who asked him to provide an armored car to drive the Prime Minister. Once he arrived in front of the presidential troupes’ barracks in Ouainia, one of the soldiers opened the door for Zallak and he headed directly to the ward where he found President Ben Ali and Ali Asseriaty. Ben Ali had his left hand in his pocket and an unusual look on his face. So Zallak headed towards them and related to them his conversation with Samir al-Tarhouni. He also saw President Ben Ali speaking to his wife, Leila Ben Ali, walking back and forth near the presidential plane. Few moments later, a car driven by Leila Ben Ali’s personal driver, arrived to the ward carrying some members of her family. Zallak heard the president’s wife shouting: “What are they doing here?”. Therefore the president asked Asseriaty to order the plane’s departure. But since the President knew about the presence of Samir al-Tarhouni and his squad in the airport, he asked Asseriaty to call the army and send them to the airport to inquire about the situation in a bid to prevent any clash between the regular troops. Asseriaty told the president that he tried to call and failed. These were one the most critical moments for the agents in charge for the president’s security. They were confused and feared a potential confrontation with other squads. Meanwhile, Halima, Ben Ali’s daughter, inquired Asseriaty about the happenings so the latter reassured her and watched Halima, the president’s daughter, her fiancé, Mahdi Benkayed, President Ben Ali and his wife, boarding the airplane while the Trabelsi family members who joined them stayed on ground, since they were not allowed to get on the plane. Facts The presidential security guards thought that the airplane would take off from the international airport but it rather took off from the military airport. The airplane was guarded and secured according to Asseriaty’s instructions and when it took off, Elias Zallak went back with his men to the presidential airplane ward where the officers seemed relieved and satisfied from securing the president’s departure under those conditions without any confrontation or losses. Some even wept for joy. Meanwhile, Zallak joined Asseriaty in the airbase command in Ouainia. He heard him talking on the phone with someone called Salim asking him to show quickly at the airport because of the presence of a military aircraft. Zallak asked Colonel Elias Mankebi from the air force about the situation, saying: “What are we supposed to do now? He is talking about a military aircraft. Mankebi replied: “Go home”. Zallak asked him: “what about my men?”, so Mankebi replied “take your men and leave”. Then Zallak asked the chief of protocol Mohsen Rahim to escort him on his way out and to take Asseriaty’s permission to leave. Mohsen went to speak with Asseriaty and then came back with the permission to leave. So Elias Zallak went to see Asseriaty to have his permission and the latter told them to leave in phases so that they don’t get noticed. Thus, Elias Zallak left the barracks and headed to the palace, accompanied by Mohsen Rahim, the chief of presidential protocol. . Zallak knew that prime minister Mohammad Al-Ghannouchi had told president Ben Ali that he was held by them, so he received a call from his cousin, an officer in the national army who worked directly with Rachid Ammar and asked him to secure connection with Ammar to ask him what to do. And indeed, Rachid Ammar called him and instructed him to secure the leave of the prime minister, the House of Representatives’ speaker and the head of the senate. Therefore, Zallak prepared the cars and called Rachid Ammar to inform him that they were leaving in 5 minutes. Hamed Ben Mabrouk – head of headquarters security in the presidential security service- facts On the night of January 13, Ben Mabrouk was in a meeting in Ali Asseriaty’s office, presided by Asseriaty and attended by Colonel Adnan Hattab, Tewfik Kasemi, Elias Zallak and Colonel Sami Sik Salem. The meeting focused on the necessary precautions to adopt in light of the latest developments. During the meeting, President Ben Ali called Asseriaty on his personal phone to discuss the happenings. In his conversation with the president, Asseriaty was confirming to his interlocutor that he was coordinating with the ministry of interior and with General Rachid Ammar. During the meeting, it was agreed to raise vigilance and to work according to the 12/12 hour system, in addition to take the necessary precautions to evacuate the President from the sea side, provided it was necessary. But Ali Asseriaty refused the last proposition arguing that the situation was not that grave. So it was agreed to put additional units in advanced points around the presidential palace, in Amilcar, El Abidine mosque, Hannibal and Mouallaka crossroads. On Mabrouk heard on his radio that a helicopter would attack the presidential palace and then received a radio call from the operations room informing him about the necessity to use firearm in case a helicopter flew over the presidential palace. He also received a call from the person in charge of the 12.7 mm machine guns for clarifications and then a radio call advising him to wait for orders. Mabrouk was confused: cars were dropping presidential family members at the Carthage palace and he suspected that the president intended to leave. Then he went to meet the navy unit chief in charge of the presidential palace port who informed him that he did not understand what was happening and that he received no instructions to prepare the presidential yacht “Aaleysa”. Mabrouk heard on his radio information about a warship planning to attack the presidential palace and when he asked the agents present there, they admitted that they didn’t see any relevant detail. Salim Al Ahsan- Captain of intervention in the presidential security service- facts On the night of the 13th of January, and about 8 o’clock in the evening, Captain Al Ahsan received instructions ordering him to bring Leila Trabelsi’s sister, Jalila Trabelsi, from her home in the Salambo region. His unit found her hiding at her neighbor’s house and she was transferred to the presidential residence in Sidi Al-Drif. He was also entrusted with moving Leila Trabelsi’s family because their houses were under threat. So he brought them all to the presidential palace in Sidi Al-Drif on the morning of the 14th of January since the family member’s houses and facilities were targeted. At 11:30, Al Ahsan returned to the Carthage palace and was assigned by Elias Zallak as the convoy officer. Zallak also asked him to prepare the presidential yacht “Aalaysa”. Meanwhile, he was hearing successive calls on his radio talking about protesters who attacked military troupes and security headquarters, and other calls about some demonstrators intending to head towards the Carthage presidential palace. While he was at the presidential palace, he noticed the presence of Ghazwa’s and Sirine’s, Ben Ali’s daughters, cars. He asked about them and knew that they were in the president’s office with their father. He also saw Halima, Ben Ali’s youngest daughter, crying next to her fiancé, Mahdi Benkayed. When he was standing near the convoy, in the presidential palace pavilion, he saw a helicopter flying above the Halk Wadi region, so he called the operations room and informed the chief about the helicopter’s position. The operations room chief asked him to wait until the helicopter steadied and then, Al Ahsan heard on his radio the instructions issued to all units requiring them to shoot the helicopter in case it came near the presidential palace. The Captain also noticed Ali Asseriaty’s recurrent movement and his frequent visits to President Ben Ali’s office. At 3:30, Al Ahsan knew through his radio that a state car carrying weapons for the Carthage police agents was heading to one of the checkpoints of the presidential palace in a bid to provide weapons after receiving instructions to evacuate the headquarter. Then Al Ahsan listened on his radio to a conversation relating the President’s wife, Leila Ben Ali, departure from the Presidential private residence to the Carthage Presidential palace. A while later, a Lincoln car arrived to the Presidential palace with Leila Ben Ali at the wheel. She headed directly to the Presidential cabinet and went down with her son to President Ben Ali’s office. Meanwhile, the Presidential security chief, Ali Asseriaty, and the Presidential chief of protocol, arrived to the palace in a black Audi and entered President Ben Ali’s office. A short while later, President Ben Ali went out of his office with his wife Leila, his son Mohammed, Ali Asseriaty and Mohsen Rahim. So Salim Al Ahsan asked Asseriaty about their destination and Asseriaty literally answered him: “we are heading for Ouainia barrack”. Straight afterwards, Leila Trabelsi, got into her Lincoln with her husband President Bin Ali and their son Mohammed Zine El Abidine, while Asseriaty and Mohsen Rahim, the Presidential chief of protocol, got into the black Audi and they all went off at an exorbitant speed at the head of the convoy followed by the rest of the cars. At Al Muallaka crossroad, Ali Asseriaty had a car accident due to over speed when he hit a civilian car. And at Aisha city, the car driven by Leila Trabelsi overrode the convoy and ran at the lead at 150 km/h. Then the first security car and Ali Asseriaty’s Car followed. Asseriaty was at that moment leading the convoy. Then the convoy turned to enter the military airbase from the gate located at the national road number 9 – Al Marsa road- they waited few minutes in front of the gate before the door opened and the convoy took the route to the Presidential airplane ward without any mentionable delay. When they arrived near the airplane, everybody got out of their cars including President Ben Ali who had an unusual look on his face. Leila Ben Ali also stepped down with her son Mohammed. Al Ahsan watched Halima, the President’s daughter, crying next to her fiancé Mahdi Benkayed. The aircraft crew was preparing the airplane for takeoff while a tanker truck was refueling the airplane. Meanwhile Ali Asseriaty told Al Ahsan that the anti-terrorism brigade were affiliated to the Islamists, so Al Ahsan asked him “you mean the Presidential security special units?”, Asseriaty replied: “ no I’m taking about Tunisia’s Anti-terrorism Brigade of the ministry of interior. They are stationed in the airport and might prevent the Presidential airplane from taking off”. Then Asseriaty headed towards President Ben Ali who was on the phone, so he instructed his units to check for details which surprised them. At that moment, Elias Zallak arrived, talked with Asseriaty and then spoke to Al Ahsan to inquire about the situation; so Elias Zallak informed him that he spoke with colonel Samir al-Tarhouni who advised him that he was about to arrest the Trabelsi’s in the airport. Afterward and after consulting Colonel Adnan Hattab, it was agreed to apply the instructions and secure the airplane take off. Facts Ali Asseriaty Addressed Al Ahsan, Elias Zallak and Captain Belghazi and said: “you are capable of accomplishing this task”. He meant that they could secure the airplane’s departure and President Ben Ali was present and heard his words. It was agreed to open the takeoff aisle using two armored vehicles and securing the plane’s sides with the other cars. The agents and officers were given the choice to participate in the mission or not. When they were all discussing the security plan, the Presidential aircraft moved, which pushed them to get into their cars. Al Ahsan was driving one of the cars in the lead that were running under the airplane’s right wing. And the airplane ran toward the military tarmac. When the airplane took off, everybody stopped at the Presidential airplane ward where they all expressed their joy for accomplishing the mission without any mentionable losses in light of the current circumstances and the panic that took over everyone. At that moment, Al Ahsan was given instructions from Colonel Elias Zallak to prevent any civilian, i.e. the family members who were still in the airport ward, from going inside the convoy’s cars. So the cars were arranged in two rows and Al Ahsan left for the officers’ club in the military barrack and waited for instructions. Meanwhile, a grey black Mercedes arrived, carrying the President’s son in law, Salim Zarouk, and his wife Ghazwa Ben Ali. They directly joined Ali Asseriaty. Elias Zallak asked Mohsen Rahim, the Chief of protocol to advice Asseriaty that the convoy was ready to leave. However, Asseriaty gave him the permission to leave without him because he was going to stay in the military barrack. The Convoy left on several phases to prevent getting noticed and all the cars headed for the Presidential palace in Carthage. Hassan Al Wartani – President Ben Ali Usher The President’s usher, who also worked for former President Habib Bourkiba, noticed that over the past 5 years, Ben Ali’s memory weakened. Facts On the 14th of January, the usher started his work as usual and around 10 o’clock in the morning, the President’s daughters, Ghazwa and Nisrine Ben Ali, arrived to the palace with their husbands Marwan Mabrouk and Salim Zarouk. They were going in and out his office with expressions of fear on their faces. They talked a lot on their phones and around midday, Ali Asseriaty arrived to the palace carrying a Motorola radio. He entered the President’s office in a rush and then left the office accompanied by the President. They both headed to the office’s hallway; then Ali Asseriaty left the office and came back again at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. He ran towards the President’s office and asked the usher to open the door for him to meet the President. And indeed, Asseriaty entered the office after the President had given him permission and they both got out to the corridor and talked for about 10 minutes. Marwan Mabrouk, Nisrine Ben Ali’s husband, was also in the corridor, talking on his mobile phone. The usher noticed that the President was confused: he was looking left and right. Ali Asseriaty was also uncomfortable and every now and then, he was answering calls on his mobile phone. That was unlike his usual habit since he used to leave his phone outside the President’s office. After Ali Asseriaty’s sudden leave, the President rushed into his office and around 4 o’clock, Marwan Mabrouk and Sirine Ben Ali left the palace. Then, around 4:30, Ali Asseriaty, Leila Ben Ali, the President’s son Mohammed Zine El Abidine, his daughter Halima and her fiancé Mahdi Benkayed arrived to the office. They were walking strikingly fast with expressions of fear and terror on their faces. The President left with them. Wartani looked at his watch, it was 4:15. The President literally told him “Stay here, I will accompany them and come back”. And indeed, the usher kept his position until Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi arrived with the house speaker, Fouad Mebzaa and the head of senate, Abdullah Kallel accompanied by security officials in the palace. At their head was Sami Sik Salem who asked Wartani to open the door of President Ben Ali’s office since he was in charge of his keys. He said they wanted to enter the office to film a speech addressed by Mr. Mebazaa to the Tunisian people. But the usher refused to open the door and said: “I cannot open the door for you”, so Sami Sik Salem answered him: “the President fled the country, he is no longer in Tunisia. The President left”. Wartani was surprised by Sami Sik Salem’s severe tone and proposed to film the statement in a hall next to the President’s office. Around 15 people were present, they gathered in the hall and after they have finished recording, Sik Salem asked Wartani to assure a special place for the prime minister, the house speaker and the head of senate stay in the Presidential palace. Afterwards, Sami Sik Salem went to the Presidential palace’s pavilion and then came back to sit at his place in front of the President’s office. Meanwhile, Wartani received a call, on his cell phone through the palace’s distributor, from President Ben Ali. The operator asked him to pass the phone to the prime minister because President Ben Ali needed to talk to him. So Wartani gave his phone to one of the officers and asked him to pass the device to the prime minister because the President was on the line. A short while later, the officers gave him his phone back while Sami Sik Salem went out of the room in furry, refusing to pass any other phone call. Muntasser Khayari – Head of the Telex Presidential department- Facts Muntasser Khayari asked Hassan Wartani, the President’s Usher, to prepare a table in the hall where the prime minister would film his statement to the Tunisian people. Facts Hassan Wartani asked khayari to carry his mobile phone to Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Ghannouchi saying that President Ben Ali was on the line and wanted to speak with him. And indeed, Khayari gave the phone to the prime minister and heard him saying literally: “Mr. President, the country is burning and I cannot retract the statement I delivered. I am not alone; I have with me the house speaker and the head of the senate. You are our President and you are welcome among us whenever you come back”. Salem Wartani- President Ben Ali second usher and brother of the first usher, Hassan Wartani Salem Wartani noticed that the senior advisor, Abdul Aziz Ben Dia, frequently reported to the President’s office since the beginning of the protests. Ben Dia was spending a long time with the President just as the minister of the interior, Rafik Hajj Kassem. On the 13th of January, Salem Wartani started his work as usual: he opened the President’s office door, replaced the bouquets of flowers, then closed the door and headed for the Presidential residence in Sidi Al-Drif where he stayed waiting for the President. When they left the residence, he took the President’s suitcase, put it in his car and the President left the residence with his personal driver heading to the Presidential palace. So S.Wartani followed him to open the office’s door for him. Between 9:30 and 10 o’clock, Ghazwa and Sirine Ben Ali, the President’s daughters from his first wife Naima Kafi, arrived to the palace with their husbands. They were going inside his office, and then going out to the library. His daughter Sirine was going in and out the office to make phone calls. Fear and terror was showing on their faces. At around 11 o’clock in the morning, the Presidential Cabinet chief, Ayad Wardani, arrived President Ben Ali’s office and joined his daughters and their husbands in the library where the President’s speech was being drafted. From time to time, the speech was being shown to the President for modifications. After the President agreed on the final version of the speech, the paper was handed to Karim Chetyawi, a public information officer, to copy it on a reader. Then the preparations for the video shoot began. Meanwhile, Mohsen Rahim, the Presidential chief of protocol, the President’s wife, Leila Ben Ali and his personal writer, Rachid Hamdan, arrived to Ben Ali’s office. At the end of the filming session, everybody applauded. Afterwards, Ben Ali left the Presidential palace with his wife, therefore, everybody left and Salem Wartani closed the office’s door. Mohsen Rahim- the Presidential Chief of Protocol- facts Mohsen Rahim noticed President Ben Ali’s insistence on visiting Mohammed Bou Azizi at the severe burns hospital after he had met with some of the injured during the riots. At 11 o’clock, the President informed his personal advisor, the Presidential spokesman Abdul Aziz Ben Dia, that he would be visiting Bou Azizi at around 5 o’clock in the afternoon. And indeed, Ben Dia advised Mohsen Rahim of the matter and of the President’s meeting with the families of three injured from Sidi Bou Zid who were provided with envelopes containing money. President Bin Ali went to the hospital in a bid to talk with Bou Azizi and inquire about the real reason that pushed him to set himself on fire, but the victim’s health condition did not offer him the chance. On the 14th of January, Mohsen Rahim arrived to his workplace in the Presidential palace at 7:15 in the morning. At midday, President Ben Ali called him on the phone and asked him to come to his office. He gave him instructions to prepare the Presidential airplane that will carry his family, i.e. his wife Leila, his son Mohammed and his daughter Halima, to the Kingdom of Saoodi Arabia to perform Umrah. The President literally told Rahim: “the situation is tensed and trouble is everywhere. They will go to Saoodi Arabia to amuse, entertain themselves and perform Umrah. Prepare the airplane and I will inform you later about the flight’s schedule”. Mohsen Rahim Called the director general of Tunis airlines, Nabil Shatawi, to coordinate with the airplane crew and prepare the flight as usual. Rahim noted that Ben Ali was not intending to travel with his family. At around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, President Ben Ali informed him that the airplane would take off at 6 o’clock in the evening, so Rahim called once again Nabil Shatawi and informed him of the departure hour. Then he accompanied Ali Asseriaty to his office where the latter brought his leather suitcase and put a gun at his side. His gun was showing, without a sheath. Furthermore, Rahim received from one of the Presidential security officers a set of personnel passports in an envelope including the passport of Kamal Bdeiri, the President’s servant, which he delivered to the cabin crew when he arrived to the barrack in Ouainia. Once Rahim returned from Ali Asseriaty’s office, he found President Ben Ali, his wife Leila, his son Mohammed, their daughter Halima, her fiancé Mahdi Benkayed and one of Leila Trabelsi’s sisters standing in the corridor of the Presidential cabinet. The President was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie, without a jacket. Ben Ali called his personnel usher and asked him to bring him his jacked, as soon as he was handed his jacket, the President put it on in a hurry and everybody left the corridor. Ben Ali got with his daughter into the Lincoln car driven by Leila Ben Ali while Mohsen Rahim got into the Black Audi with Ali Asseriaty at the wheel. The two cars set off in the lead of the convoy at high speed. Facts In the President’s office hallway, Mohsen Rahim overheard Ali Asseriaty talking on the phone and giving instructions that clearly said: “there’s a helicopter, if it comes near the palace, shoot it with 12.7 mm machine guns and give it no chance to land in the palace.” Asseriaty also received another call informing him about a second helicopter approaching the palace from another side. Rahim heard as well Asseriaty speaking of gunboats heading for the palace from the sea. Ali Asseriaty was insisting on evacuating Ben Ali and his wife from the palace and saying: “Mr. President, you and your wife need to leave now to the airport”. Mohsen Rahim informed Asseriaty that the Presidential airplane was ready to leave and that the President had fixed the departure time at 6 o’clock in the evening. But Rahim did not change the date of departure since Ali Asseriaty was insisting on leaving the palace. When they all were in the Presidential cabinet hallway, Asseriaty told him: “we will go to the airport and wait there till the airplane is ready. The army is there, they are our sons, and they are on our side”. Mohsen Rahim understood from Asseriaty’s words that the latter would feel safer in the airport with the army because the Presidential palace was under all types of threats and constitutes a danger on their lives especially after Asseriaty tried to call the airport commander, Zuhair Biyati, but another man answered his phone. The man introduced himself as Samir al-Tarhouni so Asseriaty got surprised and called Elias Zallak asking him to phone his friend Samir al-Tarhouni and inquire him about the situation because he tried to call the airport commander and al-Tarhouni answered the phone instead of him. Asseriaty made this phone call when he was with Mohsen Rahim in the car on their way to the airport. Asseriaty told Rahim after he had hit a car at Muallaka crossroad: “I hope we could make it to the airport”. When Rahim asked for clarifications, Asseriaty replied: “the national vanguards and the police vanguards are leading a conspiracy, now you understand everything”. Asseriaty repeatedly tried to call Jalal Bourdiga, chief of intervention units and Samir al-Tarhouni direct commander, but he could not reach him. Facts When the convoy reached the national army barracks at Ouainia, some officers went out of their cars and knocked on the barracks blue door shouting: “open the door”. They tried to climb it but finally one of the soldiers opened the door and the convoy quickly entered and headed for the VIP lounge in the airport that is only 200 meters away from the airplane ward; but President Ben Ali refused to come down from the car. So the convoy continued its way toward the airplane ward where Ben Ali, his wife Leila, his son Mohammed, his daughter Halima and her fiancé Mahdi Benkayed, the President’s personal butler Kamal Bdairi, Adel Trabelsi’s wife and two Filipina maids got out of the cars. They all waited near the airplane until it was refueled while the bags and luggage were shipped from the cars trunks. Kamal Bdairi, the President’s personal butler and the two Filipina maids got on the airplane. The cabin crew number was limited including the pilot, Mahmoud Sheikh Rouhou, his assistant, the hostess Nadia Belhareth, another air host and a mechanic. Ali Asseriaty was making phone calls from time to time and Mohsen Rahim was standing next to the President who was continuously asking: “when will they finish refueling?”. Ayyad Wardani, the Presidential cabinet chief, called Mohsen Rahim on his cell phone and asked him to pass the phone to the President. The latter walked slightly away without getting noticed. Meanwhile, Halima, his daughter, came close to Rahim and asked him if her father would travel with them. So Rahim told her that her father was over there and she could ask him. Ben Ali Asked Rahim to inquire from the pilot about the quantity of Kerosene that was filled, the remaining quantity and the estimated time to complete refueling. The pilot answered that the whole process would end in 10 to 15 minutes and Rahim advised the President. When they finished refueling, Ali Asseriaty went on the airplane to get his coat after one of his men had put in onboard. It was the officer who brought Asseriaty’s leather suitcase from the airplane a while ago. It seemed that when the convoy arrived, the officers had put Asseriaty’s coat and bag in the airplane. President Ben Ali had already told Ali Asseriaty that there was no need for him to travel, “I will accompany them and come back”, the President said. So Asseriaty replied: “Mr. President, don’t come back before I tell you” Facts The flight process was unusual and quick. President Ben Ali did not ask his chief of protocol to travel with him, which was usually his main task. Furthermore, the legal procedures for the passengers were not complete. After the airplane had taken off, Mohsen Rahim went with Ali Asseriaty to the Military Airport’s VIP lounge where Asseriaty asked some soldiers to serve him coffee milk and water. Mohsen Rahim left with Elias Zallak after Asseriaty had told them: “you can leave now; I will stay here for a while. Go ahead and go, there’s no problem”. At the moment Mohsen Rahim left the lounge, he received a phone call from President Ben Ali asking him if Ali Asseriaty was with him, Rahim told him that he left Asseriaty in the VIP lounge, so the President asked about his daughter Sirine and her Husband Salim. He wanted to know if they reached Ouainia. When Mohsen Rahim arrived to the Carthage Presidential palace at around 6 o’clock in the evening, he left for his house. And at around 8 o’clock at night, he called Ali Asseriaty who advised him that he was arrested and taken into the army’s custody. Head of Presidential airplane security in charge of protecting the president's plane His mission is to protect the president's plane, a 737-700 Boeing and two military AB 412 helicopters. The protection process is situated in an aircraft military base planes hangar in al-Ouainia, and usually the plane is prepared four or three days before the flight and the passengers list is usually secreted. Monsef arrived to his office in the presidential plane hangar on January 14 in the morning and around 2 pm his team consisting of a mechanical engineer, a cleaning agent, a technician and an engineer left in normal conditions, since their working time was off. At 2:30 pm, Monsef received a call from Tarik Bin Salem, the supervising engineer of the plane who told him that under the instructions of the Director-General of Tunis Airline, he will return to work, asking him to contact the operations cabinet to let him enter through the VIP lounge, after he was stopped by the border police with the help of police officers. He contacted the Governor of the airport police, Zouhair al-Bayati, but in vain, so he contacted the presidential operations cabinet and they allowed him to enter through the door of the VIP lounge. Around 3:30 pm the technical team who is usually in charge of the plane’s preparation arrived, followed by the cabinet crew consisting of Mahmoud Sheikh Rouho the pilot, and his assistant Yasin Awlad Jaabillah, the host Bashir Kishk and the hostess Nadia Balharth. When the plane was being filled with fuel at around 4:20pm , Monsef received a call from the President of the operations cabinet who told him that the presidential passenger was on his way to the plane, so he replied that the plane was still in the process of fueling in the hangar and has not been transferred yet to the VIP lounge, however he was surprised at 4:35pm by the arrival of the presidential passenger from the military base door in al-Ouainia who directly stepped into the presidential plane. Monsef Chebbi left the room to give way for the President’s bodyguards. Facts The presidential plane fueling duration is about 20 minutes and the amount of fuel is about 16 thousand liters. The door was closed after President Ben Ali got in, and the plane was pulled out by a tractor. Then the presidential vanguards kept up with the plane by car, until it took off from the military airport instead of the international airport. An hour later, Army vanguard arrived and arrested al-Trabelsi family members, who were waiting next to the hangar for a military plane as promised by Asseryati. At 6:10am, on January 25 the presidential plane arrived and a military commission of the army checked it and took it back to the hangar again. Head of the airport security He knew all the details related to the departure of the President’s son-in-law, Sakhr al-Matiri at 12:25pm on January 14, in a private jet belonging to Belhessen Trabelsi, and around 1pm, he received a call from Ali Asseryati asking him to find seven seats for Trabelsi Family members who were planning to travel. Moreover, he asked to delay the flight to Lyon, so that the passengers would be able to catch the plane and he has done so, after he confirmed the availability of vacant seats on Tunisia airlines plane heading to Lyon at 2:30pm. But he learned afterwards that the pilot al-Kilani was burst with anger and refused to transport Trabelsi family members. At 2:45, he received a call from an aid in the presidential operation cabinet, telling him that a convoy left the presidential residence in Sidi al-Drif and is on its way to the airport; this convoy included Trabelsi family members, who arrived on board of five cars around 3:20pm. They were accompanied by the President’s guards in civilian uniforms, and some of them were armed with pistols. The presidential security guards left as soon as they met al-Biyati and warned him that the convoy was then, under his responsibility. The family members intended to travel on board of the Italian plane heading to Milan, and some of them were asking about the time of Lyon’s trip whose pilot claimed that he had lost consciousness. Vice President of the airport security - Facts He received a phone call from Zuheir al-Bayati, the airport Governor telling him to meet him and asking him to go to the pilot of the flight to Lyon and ask the latter to wait for a while because there are some persons who are on their way to join the flight. The pilot asked him not to cause him any trouble because he wants to get home before 5pm, which is the time of the curfew. In the meantime, the director of Tunisia Airline arrived and got on board to talk to the pilot in private, then the pilot stepped down from the plane and fainted so the former informed the head of the department at the time, and he received a phone call from his colleague, Hafez al-Aouni asking him about his place and demanding him to come quickly, saying that the counter-terrorism group attacked the airport and telling him to go to the VIP lounge in the airport. He went there and saw Trabelsi family members besieged by armed counter-terrorism elements. After a short time, another group of the National vanguards who were also armed arrived, in addition to the Director-General of the intervention unit General Jalal Boudarika who was in a state of panic and anger because of Colonel Samir al-Tarhuni’s behavior. The Director-General of the National Security, Adel al-Tawairi had contacted him on his cell phone and asked for an explanation of what is happening at the airport, so he told him that things are not clear and that the counter-terrorism group are surrounding Trabelsi family, and that they are aiming their weapons in everyone’s faces, so the head of security asked him about the source of the instructions and he answered that he does not know and that things are not clear. Jalal Boudarika was angry and he was asking about the situation and Colonel Samir al-Tarhuni tried to calm him down while he was laughing and wandering around the VIP lounge smiling. On each occasion, he said to his men “May God give you good health guys, you have done a great job”. In the meantime, Zouhair al-Bayati, Governor of the airport received a call from Imad Trabelsi the President’s son-in-law, who was told to come to the airport, Zouhair said “you can come Mr. Imad, things are fine” and afterwards he saw Imad Trabelsi arriving to the VIP lounge at the airport and then the media team arrived in addition to a military bus of the National Army that transferred the family to al-Ouainia military base. The Army units planned to keep them in the VIP lounge to spend the night, but later decided to take them to al-Ouainia, and took the tape that the TV had filmed and handed it over to the Director-General of the concerned service, Rachid Obeid. Head of the Border police units - Facts On January14, he received at 4 pm a phone call from Ali Asseryati, the presidential security chief and asked him about what is going on at the airport and told him literally, “What is going on at the airport?” so he answered that there is nothing to be mentioned, so Asseryati asked him then “why have you forbidden the president's daughter from getting into the plane?” so he answered that he had no idea about the matter. He asked Asseryati to ask Zouhair al-Bayati, who responded that the matter is just related to stamps and has been resolved and then added that she is now on board. He told Asseryati that she was out and asked him to contact Zouhair al-Bayati because he was there too, and in the meantime Zouhair al-Bayati, informed Izz al-Din that the thread was not about Sirine Ben Ali, but it was about Trabelsi family members that have been prevented by anti-terrorism troop from leaving, so he asked him “whose instructions are they?” So he gave the phone to Samir al -Tarhuni telling him that Samir will clarify the matter. So Samir answered the phone and told him “Izz al-Din regarding the other one, I mean Sirine, she’s out” and then hung up the phone without even letting Izz al-Din ask him about his identity. Around 4:30pm, he called Zouhair al-Bayati, who did not answer so he called the head of the national security and told him what has happened then informed the central department of operations. Facts When checking the border and foreign residents’ treasury, there was no legal guide stating that President Ben Ali and his family left the Tunisian territory. Colonel Samir - Head of Anti-terrorism troop Since January 12, he was charged of securing the building of the Ministry of Interior, where he sent a contingent of eight members armed with 2 km range weapons, a variety of weapons from private calibers and a large quantity of ammunition stored at the Ministry of Interior to be used when needed. On January 13, he held a meeting in the Ministry of Interior to carry out an operation in the city where the house of Bourakiba is located, however on January 14, he stayed in his office in the barracks in the Boushousha region and he has been following the events over the radio, through which he was listening to information about targeting security headquarters by setting them on fire in various regions of the capital and near the Ministry of Interior. The barracks’ headquarter was threatened by the demonstrators, who were estimated to reach ten thousand demonstrators after they had burned all security stations near the region. A significant number of security personnel had been attacked and a state of panic prevailed and aids got out securing their barracks. It was mentioned on the Radio - without mentioning the time - that demonstrators broke into the barracks then chaos and panic prevailed amongst the aids especially in the ranks of those who had to spend the night there because it was no longer possible to distinguish between the soldiers and the civil aids. Samir al -Tarhuni said that he did not go to the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior because there were about 100 soldiers from his troop and the barracks was on fire. Between 1:30 pm and 2pm, Lieutenant Ayman al-Saadani who was in charge of the Interior Minister protection, told him that he had received instructions directly from Jalal Boudarika, the Director-General of the intervention units, asking him to load the weapons and be ready to shoot. Samir ordered him to remove the real bullets and launch CS gas to keep the protesters away from the Ministry of Interior. In the meantime he learned over the radio about the presence of protesters near the airport, so he contacted the agent Hafez al-Aouni who works in the planes protection team, and asked him what is going on at the airportso the latter told him that “the whole group is here” referring to the Trabelsi family, and told him that they are planning to travel and then ended the call. He called him again and told him “keep them there, I’m coming” and then ended the call again and directly called his wife who works at the airport control tower and asked her if there were any plane that is taking off with a Trabelsi member on board, she told him that there is a plane that is taking off at the moment, he asked her to stop it and prevent it from leaving”. His wife was worried and asked him whose instructions are they? from above? He confirmed that the instructions were from above. She told him that the plane will take off in twenty minutes so he can make sure to catch it before the time. He gathered 10 agents armed with various weapons from pistols and machine guns and headed in a two-car-convoy to the airport. He told his aids not to use their weapons unless he says so. Around 2:50 he arrived at the airport and went directly to the VIP lounge where he was stopped by some aids working in civilian clothes so he told them firmly “Let us go in brothers and we promise not to fire any bullet” so out of fear, some of them replied “Ok, Ok come in.” He then entered the VIP lounge and got out of it heading to the runway and found a minibus carrying a number of civilian men, women and children, and a large number of travel bags, then he saw two people willing to get on the bus, but as soon as they saw him, they ran away so two members of his troop followed and arrest them. When he got on the bus with two of his aids, he called his wife to ask her where is the plane that will transport Trabelsi family members and Ben Ali, she answered that it is in the place that is reserved for Tunisavia. He asked the bus driver to go to that place, where he found a private plane in front of which a president aid was standing, so he asked him sharply “who is on the plane?” He answered him “Mr. Samir, Madame Serene Ben Ali and the Mabruk group” so he retorted, “let it go, we do not need it” but he didn’t ask any of his aids to get on the plane and they all left the place to pursue their search. In the interim, they knew that they were on the plane heading to Lyon in France in terminal No. 56; the bus driver knew where it was so two of his aids got on board for inspection but did not find any Trabelsi family member. He was in fact looking for the persons who are in the same bus where he was repeating “Forgive us but we are looking for different persons, we do not have a problem with you we just need the bus to arrest other people”. When he returned to the VIP lounge, he spoke violently to the aids working on the plane’s protection, asking them about the family members so they answered that they are the ones who were with him in the bus. He then felt some relief because he had believed that his mission had failed and ordered to get them out of the bus and bring them into the VIP lounge. At the time, Zouhair al-Bayati arrived so he told him “Zouhair, the instructions are from above, do not let any member of the family travel, and do not take any riks” so Zouhair told him back “Samir what are you doing?.... whose instruction?. Samir told him “from above, instructions from above”. He then asked him to go with him to a side office, where Monsef al-Trabelsi was hiding so he took him to the VIP lounge, and Zouhair Al-Bayati asked him again about the source of the instructions. At that moment, Zouhair received a phone call from Imad Trabelsi who told him that he was about to arrive to the airport so the former asked Samir al-Tarhuni about what he should answer so he told him to lead him in a normal way to enter the airport and indeed Imad Trabelsi arrived. Then Zouhair al-Bayati received a phone call from Ali Asseryati, the head of the president’s security, he handed him the phone after telling him that Asseryati gave him direct orders to do so. In the meantime, he saw many army helicopters about to airdrop some special units elements; He thought that they were preparing an attack so he requested reinforcements so his troops can join him at the airport for fear of confrontation. General Jalal Boudarika, the Director-General of the intervention units arrived and went towards Samir al -Tarhuni and told him “What are you doing and who told you to stop them? Ali Asseryati sent u?” so he answered, “yes Ali Asseryati” and after he had the proof he talked to him again and insisted on knowing who gave him the instructions “Who sent you Samir? Who?” Samir al-Tarhuni replied “They stole the country, they left nothing here and you want them to run away? Nobody will get on the plane, why do you keep on asking me who sent me? I came alone!”, Boudarika replied “Do you want to kill me too?” He answered “no”, saying “You are our boss and will always be, we do not want and we are not here to shed blood” so Boudarika asked “if I'm your boss, leave them and let them travel” then Samir answered “You are my boss and I highly respect you but they will not travel”. Samir al -Tarhuni contacted the Lieutenant-Colonel, Arabi al-Akhal, the head of the National vanguard and asked him to come to the airport because there are instructions from above demanding to arrest the Trabelsi family. 40 aids troop arrived at the airport to join Samir al-Tarhuni team and at 5pm another troop of 20 elements belonging to the fast intervention unit joined them and began to show off their powers outside the VIP lounge. Samir al-Tarhuni was asking Jalal Boudarika to contact his administration and tell them that he wants to hand over Trabelsi Family to General Rachid Ammar and he asked Arabi al-Akhal to turn off his phone and not to answer any questions from anyone. Meanwhile, Zouhair al-Bayati told him that the crew on the presidential plane wants to go the hangar in the al-Ouainia barracks and if they were allowed to pass, so al-Tarhuni replied “let them pass, they have nothing to do with me”. Around 5:50pm, the presidential plane took off, and they stayed in the VIP lounge with about 28 members of Trabelsi and Ben Ali families. Al-Tarhuni stressed that he will only hand over the members to Rachid Ammar so Boudarika told him that there is a military bus heading to the VIP lounge to take the family members. In the meantime, he was informed that the Prime Minister Mohamed Al-Ghannouchi was about to deliver a speech to the people on the Tunisian channel so he went to watch it and he knew that Mohamed Al-Ghannouchi was assigned President temporarily, and while the military bus was in front of the VIP lounge, Arabi al-Akhal gave him his mobile phone and told him that Mr. Adnan Al-Hattab says that the Prime Minister is on the phone and he wanted to talk to him, as soon as he took the phone, Adnan al-Hattab said, “Do you accept to talk to the new President?” He answered “of course I do,” and he said directly “All my respects Mr. President” but Mohamed Al-Ghannouchi interrupted him and said “I am the Prime Minister” so he answered again “All my respects Mr. Prime Minister” so he replied literally “I have become by virtue of the Constitution the President temporarily and I want to know your intentions and your program, who will be in charge? You or someone else?” al-Tarhuni answered him literally “Excuse me Mr. President, we are working under your command and the command of our chiefs, and I arrested this gang and I want to hand them over to Rachid Ammar” so the Prime Minister replied, “Ok, My god be with you”. The media team arrived to broadcast the process of the handing over and the bus was escorted until it arrived to the military barracks in al-Ouainia. Samir al-Tarhuni intended to detain family members to compromise President Ben Ali to step down from power. General Jalal Boudarika - Director General of the intervention units He was following the latest developments from the Ministry of Interior with the rest of the security chiefs, and he was in constant coordination with the Minister of the Interior. The situation began to deteriorate where the number of demonstrators has reached seventy thousand demonstrators and it seemed there was a clear threat to the Ministry of Interior. The instructions of Interior Minister Ahmad Fariaa were to use rods and CS gas instead of real bullets to disperse demonstrators who were about to break into the Ministry of Interior. At 4pm, General Boudarika headed from the Ministry of Interior to the airport after a phone call from the Director General of National Security asking him to go to the Office of the Minister of Interior where he found him with General Rachid Ammar. The minister of Interior told him literally: "My brother, do you have a group related to the anti-terrorism that you have sent to the airport on a mission?”. He answered that he had no idea about it and that he did not send any one, and then he added that he will prove it so he called Samir al-Tarhuni and asked him about his whereabouts, the latter replied that he was at the airport accompanied by two divisions belonging to the anti-terrorism troop. Boudarika asked him aloud “Who sent you? and what are you doing at the airport?” so he replied “Everything is fine and all the family here wants to travel but no one will” so Boudarika repeated his question: “Who gave you the instructions?”. He told him that he would tell him later on but under the persistence of Boudarika, he revealed that al-Tarhuni gave him the instructions, so Boudarika told the minister of interior Ahmad Fariaa what al-Tarhuni had told him; those who were present there were surprised by the seriousness of the situation, especially that President Ben Ali is still at the presidential palace in Carthage. General Rachid Ammar asked Jalal Boudarika to go by himself to the airport to clear things up and inform him about the recent developments. Indeed, he arrived at the airport at around 4:15 and again Boudarika insisted in his tough conversation with Samir al-Tarhuni to know whose instructions were they, but al-Tarhuni evaded the answer without giving a clear answer and told him “They tumbled-down the country, and we will not let them go”. While Boudarika and Samir al-Tarhuni were discussing the matter, the vanguard troop, led by Arabi al-Akhal arrived and both al-Akhal and al-Tarhuni exchanged the greetings and he said to him “we have coordinated with each other” and Boudarika noticed that al-Tarhuni’s men were ready to shoot at any moment. The atmosphere was tense and Al-Tarhuni men and the guards were wearing wool masks. He informed the Director-General of the National Security about what happened and Samir al-Tarhuni told him “I feel that I have done a great job” and added “you know that we love you and we do not like to hurt you and you'll see that everybody will thank us for our accomplishment especially that we will not attack anybody and we will not use weapons”. Then Samir al-Tarhuni pointed his finger up and said aloud, “the president left and the others will not travel.” Facts Guards force agents hugged their colleagues from the anti-terrorism troop upon arriving at the airport. Al-Tarhuni requested the presence of the media to film the process of handing over the family to army. At 6:30, the military bus arrived but Samir refused to hand them except in the presence of the media team. After Samir al-Tarhuni’s phone call with Ghannoushi, he said aloud, “The new president called me and told me to hand the Trabelsi family to the army.” The media team arrived, so Samir Al-Tarhuni organized the teams in ranks for the filming. Zouhair al-Bayati received instructions to retain the tape which the media team had filmed. General Rachid Ammar was watching the operation carefully and asked to keep Samir Al-Tarhuni away from his unit. Samir Al-Tarhuni was called to the State Security under the orders of General Rachid Ammar; he was questioned and then released from custody at night. Fathi Jaziri - Officer accompanying Sirine, Ben Ali’s daughter - the facts At 2pm on January14, Sirine Ben Ali asked him to take her to Tunis Carthage International airport and asked him for a second car for protection. Sirine, her son Yassin and her daughter Sarah got into a four-wheel drive Mercedes and headed to Tunis-Carthage International airport where there is Tunisavia’s hangar. They arrived at 2:30pm, and Sirine handed her son and daughter’s passports for the completion of the travel procedures. Some members of Mabrouk family where in that private plane and after about 15 minutes, a bus annexed to Tunisia Airlines parked next to the plane where a group of passengers were on board, accompanied by four members of anti-terrorism troop all dressed in special black uniforms and carrying automatic weapons. They immediately got out of the bus and surrounded the plane from all sides and then one of them, who was Samir Al-Tarhuni asked about Belhessen plane, and about the identity of the people who were with him, and the guard replied that they are members of Mabrouk family in addition to Sirine, the president's daughter and her children, then Sirine asked him “Who are they and what do they want?” and he told her that they are the fast intervention team related to the Ministry of Interior and they are asking about Belhessen Trabelsi plane. She then asked for travel collective stamp because she had decided to travel with her children. Fathi saw Sirine Ben Ali using her mobile to make a phone call and then received a call from Marwan al-Mabrouk, who asked him if the plane had taken off, and asking him to inform him when it does, and so he did. Marwan al-Mabrouk asked him to go and meet him at the Palace of Carthage and upon his arrival to the presidential palace Fathi contacted al-Mabrouk to tell him that he has arrived so the latter told him to go to the Presidential department, where the president's office is. He stayed there until he heard the maid calling upon him “where is Mr. Fathi?”. She took him to President Ben Ali’s office where he met in front of the office Marwan Mabrouk who asked him about what happened at the airport and asked him to tell the full story to the president, then he went into the office of the President and after a short period of time, President Ben Ali came out wearing a light colored blouse and a tie and went directly to Marwan Al-Mabrouk and asked “where is the man who accompanied Sirine?” so Fathi raised his hand immediately and then the president asked him for the details. He listened to him till the end without interrupting him, and asked him “Who are these people?” so he replied “that they are anti-terrorism troop related to the police, so the president answered “chaos chaos.” Mohammed al-Arabi al-Akhal – Head of the vanguards National troop Four troops of the National Guard were sent to secure the presidential palace from the outside on January14, and some elements who were present near the palace informed al-Akhal about conflicting instructions related to shooting on a helicopter but later on, opposite instructions, they also reported the state of turmoil and chaos that was visible on the Presidential security agents and troops that they are in charge of coordination with. He was working with three troops when Samir al-Tarhuni, who is a good friend of his, contacted him and told him that he was at the airport and the Trabelsi family was with him, and asked him to join him so he withdrew the four troops that were protecting the presidential palace and asked them to go to the airport. He then sent a troop to the National Guard barracks in al-Ouainia and arrived at the airport between 4pm and 5pm. Mohammed al-Sebai – Major in the Presidential Security Department, Head of the Marine troop in the Palace His responsibility is to monitor the sides that are overlooking the sea in each of the Palace of Carthage and Sidi al-Drif presidential residence. Facts On January 12, he received a call from Ali Asseryati who asked him about the status of the Alisseh yacht and demanded to prepare it for a possible cruise to the Hamamet, so he filled it with nearly 1800 liters of fuel. On January 14, he was appointed as a convoy officer and he was in charge of the security of President Ben Ali’s departure from the presidential palace in Sidi al-Drif to the one in Carthage. At 11 o’clock he received instructions directly from his boss Elias al-Zallak, asking him to prepare Alisseh yacht and at 1 o’clock he received instructions from Elias to go to Sidi al-Drif, but he called Ali Asseryati, who asked him to stay where he was. Ali was surprised by the state of confusion and chaos that took place and told him not to leave the place. Al Arabiya